COMMUNITY RESPONSES TO RURAL BANDITRY IN DUTSIN-MA LGA, KATSINA STATE, 2020–2025

Abstract

Rural communities in northwest Nigeria in recent years have been
bedeviled by many emerging security threats ranging from
banditry, cattle rustling, and illegal proliferations of small arms
and light weapons among others. It is against this backdrop that
this Study investigates community efforts in combating rural
banditry in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State.
To arrive at this, the Study adopted Community-Oriented Policing
Theory as its theoretical framework. Qualitative research design
was used in the study where key informant interview (KII) was
adopted to gather qualitative data from participants of the study.
Findings of the Study revealed among other things that security in
the study Area is increasingly anchored on collaborative and
localized responses. Equally, Community-based security outfits,
and self-defence initiatives such as community watch and local
vigilante groups though not harmoniously coordinated remained
the major community defence. The Study equally explored that the
effectiveness of the community efforts is rooted in communal trust,
confidence building, and the use of local knowledge. The study
recommended among other things that community effort should be
harmoniously coordinated through synergy among all the
community security groups and community policing should be
renewed and encouraged to improve timely response to distress
calls and emergencies.